Where in the Bible does it state that Mary decided that she would remain a virgin the rest of her life?

Question

and deny her husband sexual relations? I have never read this verse.

I am looking at a standard NIV Bible. Please direct me.

Answer 1

It's not in there. This is something that came out of the Vatican hundreds of years ago. The Romans believed in female gods, so the Pope at the time, decided that by making Mary divine, they could incorporate her into the realm of deities and then Christianity would be more palatable to the average Roman citizen. It worked, and Rome accepted this version of Christianity and began promoting it throughout the known world.

Answer 2

Still hammering away on Catholic doctrine about Mary, hmm?

How about this: Direct us to the Bible verses which state unequivocally that the "brothers" of Jesus were His actual siblings, born of Mary (and presumably sired by Joseph). Otherwise, it's just an assumed interpretation.

Joseph had no relations with her "until" she had borne Jesus (as in Matthew 1:25)? That's not always the meaning of "until"; does 1 Corinthians 25 mean that Christ will no longer reign after He has put all of his enemies under his feet? "He must reign until..." is what the verse says. (I'm also using NIV.)

More to the point: If you don't agree with Catholic doctrine on this, fine. Many don't. But for those who do, why does it concern you? Is it your purpose to start an argument with Catholics in order to prove you're right? Or get amens from others who believe as you do? Is there a point to this, and is it in any way grounded in Christian love?

Answer 3

In Luke chapter one, when the Angel announced to Mary that she would give birth to a son. Mary was already betrothed to Joseph, and she obviously knew how babies were made. Yet, she questioned how she could become pregnant. If she had intended to have relations with Joseph, this would be a stupid question. Obviously, from the context, she had every intention of remaining a virgin - and in fact did.

For those who insist that Mary and Joseph had children together, the gospels - and all other contemporary historical writings - are silent to this claim. The 'brothers' of Jesus were his relatives (half-brothers, cousins, etc.) Nobody else except Jesus is ever called "Son of Mary". And Mary is only referred to as "Mother of Jesus" and nobody else.

Answer 4

That is found nowhere in the Bible.
Scripture says that Mary and Joseph did not have relations until after Jesus' birth, implying pretty directly that they did afterwards. There is even implication in Scripture that they had children together. (The texts are not entirely clear on that subject -- there's a lot of debate among scholars as to the exact meaning of certain words and phrases, as you can see in the claims made by other answerers.)

The concept of Mary's "perpetual virginity" was developed in the first few centuries of church history and eventually became an official dogma of the Roman Catholic Church, but even the church itself says that the teaching comes from papal proclamation, not directly from Scripture.

Answer 5

Mary never decided to remain a virgin the rest of her life. This is a false tradition founded on speculations due to the heavenly origin of Jesus Christ and his miraculously conception and birth. If you read:
Mathew chapter 1 verses 19, 20, 24, 25 You will realize that she married Joseph.
If you read: Mathew chapter 13, verses 55, 56; and Luke chapter 8 verses 19 to 21 you will realize that Mary had other children besides Jesus.
If you read John chapter 7 and verses 3, and 5. You will realize that these fleshly brother were not then his spiritual brothers, for they did not believe that he was the Christ, or Mesiah.
According to the text: Jesus was told that his mother and brothers were outside the house where Jesus was, waiting for him because they wanted to talk to him. Mary and her other children could not get inside due to the crowd that filled the house. But when Jesus heard that his mother and brothers were outside waiting for him to talk to him. He said in answer that his real brothers and mother were the ones that believe in him, and heardd his teachings. With these he recognized having a fleshly mother and fleshly brothers that did not believe in him and did not accept his Mesianic role.
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Answer 6

It doesn't say that. I believe she didn't have relations with him until after Jesus was born though. Mary and Joseph did have more children after Jesus. The Bible mentions that he had 4 brothers and an unspecified number of sisters. Check Matthew 13:55 and 56

Answer 7

It doesn't say that in the Bible. But it has been confirmed by the Church and by Mary at numerous apparations. The Bible does refer to Jesus' brothers, but Joseph had other wives before Mary. The Catholic Church believes those were Joseph's children with his other wives and that Mary remained a virgin even after she gave birth and for her entire life.

Answer 8

I don't have my bible with me, but I do know that there is mention of a brother of Jesus. Conjecture tells me that there is probably notation that Mary birthed children after Jesus. Assuredly, these other children were probably fathered by Joseph and not the result of Immaculate Conception.

Answer 9

It IS in the Bible, friends. Turn to Luke, chapter 1.

The angel approaches Mary and tells her in verse 31 that she will be with child and give birth to a son, whom she is supposed to name Jesus. In verse 34, Mary responds,

"How will this be...since I am a virgin?"

Now, a girl who was about to get married and about to have sex wouldn't be asking that question, would she? She'd be saying, "Cool! When Joseph and I get married, we're going to have a son and he's going to be a great person who does wonderful things for the Lord God Almighty!"

Mary's reaction clearly indicates that she had no intention of EVER having sex. She identified herself as a virgin as though that virgin status was going to be permanent. And I know you Bible-only folks have trouble with this this, but historic accounts DO have relevance to interpretting Scripture, and there are historic records of consecrated virgins who lived at the temple and provided service there. Probably not unlike what our ladies who volunteer at church do today: cleaning, setting up candles, perhaps cooking for the priests, etc.

Now, then, a consecrated virgin was dependent on her family to provide for her. Christian history holds that Mary's parents were elderly and obviously would not have been around to provide for her, so the priests arranged for Mary to have a legal marriage. She would remain a consecrated virgin at the temple, but the man would provide for her. There is a very lovely account of how the man was chosen, through the casting of lots or some other system that was recognzied by the Old Testament. Joseph hung back, believing that as an older widower he should not even be in the running, and the staff he was holding burst into blooms...which is why the early Christian art always depicts Joseph with a staff of flowers in his hands.

Anyhoo...that explains the marriage and the perpetual virginity. As for the brothers of Jesus, well, there is absolutely NO Scripture that says Joseph had sex with Mary (even though we know that David & Bathsheba and other couples DID have sex because of explicit verses). Neither is there any verse that says Mary gave birth to any child other than Jesus. And finally, when Jesus was left behind in Jerusalem at the age of 12 and Mary and Joseph returned to look for Him, there were no other children around. Do you really think that in a society with no artificial contraception, Mary and Joseph could have had sex for 12 years with no other children?

Finally, we have to remember that Joseph and Mary were not 20th century Christians but 1st century JEWS. Knowing as he did that Mary's womb had been visited by God Himself, Joseph would have understood her womb to be equal to the Holy of Holies (or Most Holy Place in some Bible translations). An unprepared man who entered the Holy of Holies was immediately struck dead...so Joseph, out of respect for and faith in God, would not have sought sexual relations with Mary simply because of this.

Did Jesus have brothers? Sure. But nowhere in Scripture does it say that these brothers are YOUNGER than He, nor does Scripture say that Mary was the mother of these brothers. The brothers could have been older (and most likely were, since Joseph and Mary didn't have any younger children with them when they turned back to Jerusalem to find 12-year-old Jesus). They could have been adopted. They could have been other relatives, etc. Without Scripture saying absolutely that Mary gave birth to these children, the best a Bible-only Christian can say is "I don't know if Mary gave birth to those children or not." If you are sensible enough to include Christian history in your fathoming, you have to consider the fact that Joseph was recorded as older than Mary, widowed with several children...Jesus' (step) brothers and sisters.

Answer 10

Who told you that? Mary had children after the birth of Jesus.
She was married to Joseph, and they had kids together; in
fact, a couple of those half-brothers of Jesus were also followers of Jesus.
Whoever told you those things has the Biblical knowledge that God gave a grapefruit.